Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

The number of mobile phones sold in the first half of this year was down 8 percent over the same period of the previous year, thanks largely to an increased propensity for saving amid a global economic crisis, despite promotions offered by mobile operators, a recent survey has shown.

The Turkey division of the international research company GfK found in a market survey that nearly 450,000 less mobile phones were sold in the first six months of the year. In the January-June period of 2008, Turks purchased 5.46 million devices, whereas they bought slightly more than 5 million phones in the same period of this year. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

Italy, Russia and Turkey signed an agreement on building the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline, according to Eni, Italy’s biggest oil company.

The project underscores a “joint commitment to enhance energy security,” according to a statement issued by Eni on Monday. The pipeline will run between Samsun on Turkey’s Black Sea coast and the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The accord was signed in Milan Tuesday by Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, Italy’s Economy Minister Claudio Scajola and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

Groupama, a leading European insurance, banking and financial services group, has decided to join forces with Turkey’s Başak Sigorta and Güven Sigorta under one brand in an attempt to expand operations in Turkey.

Becoming the third-largest insurance company, Groupama now aims to continue an ambitious investment plan with its Turkish branch. It announced last week the launch of “Groupama Sigorta” and “Groupama Emeklilik,” by merging Başak and Güven insurance companies. Groupama acquired Başak Sigorta and Başak Emeklilik in 2006 and Güven Sigorta and Güven Hayat in 2008.

“We joined two strong rooted companies’ forces by bringing local and international expertise together. With this merger, our clients will benefit from a strong service offering, an innovative product proposition and the strength of one of the leading international insurance companies, which already proved itself to more than 16 million customers all over the world,” said Jean-Francois Lemoux, international general manager of Groupama. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 5th, 2009

Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı, or TPAO, Turkey’s state oil company, will start drilling for crude oil in the Black Sea in January, Chief Executive Officer Mehmet Uysal said last week.

The company has invested $5 billion in the past 10 years to explore the Black Sea and has identified 10 drilling prospects with capacity to cover Turkey’s consumption for 40 years, Uysal said in an interview in Bucharest.

TPAO has Black Sea exploration agreements with Brazil’s state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro, and signed a joint operation accord with Exxon Mobil in November.

“The Black Sea has huge reserves, which will be the main supplier of Europe within 10 or 15 years,” Uysal said. “Our modest estimates for those prospects are 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 1.5 trillion to 2 trillion cubic meters of gas.”

Once the 10 drilling prospects are proven as oil or gas bearing, TPAO will start production studies, which will take about five to seven years, and by 2017 or 2020 it will start production in those fields, he said. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 3rd, 2009

Turkish businessman Fettah Tamince, the chairman of luxury hotel chain Rixos, was received by Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov on Friday and briefed the president on his company’s investment projects in Turkmenistan. Meeting with Berdimuhammedov at his office, Tamince explained the Rixos hotel chain’s planned investment projects in Turkmenistan’s Avaza tourism zone.

The Turkmen president expressed approval and called for more foreign investors to actively participate in the country-wide project. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 2nd, 2009

CeBIT Bilişim Eurasia, the region’s leading digital business and technology expo, will open its doors in Istanbul on Oct. 7.

Thousands of professionals, managers, scientists, public authorities and tech geeks from around the world are expected to visit the fair, which will be held at the TÜYAP Fair Center in Beylikdüzü. Turkish President Abdullah Gül and Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım will also attend the opening ceremony. This will be the fair’s 10th year.

“CeBIT Eurasia 2009 expanded in terms of the number of exhibitors and foreign participants, despite the global turmoil,” said Orkunt Yozgat, the fair director of Hannover Fairs Interpro International Fairs, or HİFAŞ , the event organizer. CeBIT Eurasia was presented Thursday in a press conference at Istanbul’s Swissotel. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 15th, 2009

No one in their right mind would invest in Turkey’s private health sector, says Abit Bakistanlı, chairman of the Hospitalium Medical Group. First the government provided major incentives to enable rapid growth in the sector, but now they are talking about cutbacks. Not only that but they do not have a five-year plan for the sector and ever-changing regulations generate major troubles, he says

The private health sector has been growing rapidly. Currently, it constitutes 30 percent of Turkey’s entire health sector, with 420 hospitals and 200,000 employees.

Once people with pension funds and social security were given the chance to receive treatment at private hospitals, lines at the doors of public hospitals shortened. But at the same time, the new system has quadrupled the government’s public health spending since 2002 to 34 billion Turkish Liras, according to Emin Zararsız, president of Turkey’s Social Security Institution, or SGK.

Investments in private hospitals are long-term, said Abit Bakistanlı, chairman of the Hospitalium Medical Group, which owns three hospitals and one medical center in Istanbul. Right now there are too many problems facing the sector therefore no one is investing, he said. “The only private hospitals under construction are those that had received permits earlier. No one in their right mind would invest in this sector right now. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 14th, 2009

Pomegranate producers in Tarsus, a town in the Mediterranean city of Mersin, aim to make higher profits as Iran, the world’s top pomegranate supplier, is likely to see low yields this year.

Turkey ranks second in pomegranate production, and plantations cover nearly 45,000 dunams in Tarsus, which is on the sixth spot in terms of pomegranate cultivation, said Ali Ergezer, chairman of the Tarsus Chamber of Agriculture.

Due to high demand in domestic and foreign market, the pomegranate on a land of 500 dunams was sold while still on branch prior to harvest, said Ergezer. “But the producers that hear about the developments in Iran reject the merchants who offer prices between 80 kuruş and 1 Turkish Lira for a kilogram. The producers aim to keep the product and sell at or over 1.5 liras.”

The area of pomegranate plantations, which totaled 500 dunams 10 years ago, has reached 100,000 dunams with incentives, Ergezer said. “This year, 40 percent of the total planted area will be harvested in the middle of November. Due to climate conditions, the quality and yield will surpass expectations.” (more…)